‘Et Nuper Plethon’—Ficino’s Praise Of Georgios Gemistos Plethon And His Rational Religion

Abstract

Plethon's religious orthodoxy is suggested by the fact that the sentence quoted was copied by Ficino into the Plotinus preface from his letter to Johannes Pannonius (de Varadino) of 1484/85. Plethon qualifies as an Aristotelian for having commented upon Aristotle, Averroes and Alexander on matters of philosophical theology in his famous treatise De differentiis Platonis et Aristotelis (On the differences between Aristotle and Plato) . The absence of the muses and the poetical deities indicates that there is no room for mystical inspiration from the gods, and certainly no grace familiar to Christians. Plethon's mythology is Greek or Hellenic only in appearance. This chapter concludes from that the Aristotelianism allegedly represented by Plethon and Pico is actually an anti-Aristotelianism, and the defence of religion is a dubious version of Christianity. Keywords: Aristotelianism; Aristotle; Christianity; Ficino; Plethon; Plotinus

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